Titus Project was started in Sept. 1996, by Amy Rietema (now Stevens).

The vision for Titus was born out of seeing the need for Bible training around the world, and also the desire to see School of Biblical Studies (SBS) students mobilized into teaching – utilizing what they had learned in their studies.

While Amy was on staff with SBS Montana for 2 years (1994-1996), she had talked with many SBS graduates of the previous years who had just boxed up their charts and left them in a closet once they were finished with the School.  Amy thought it very sad that more of them weren’t using the great investment & Biblical foundation they had gained from SBS to bless & train others.  So, her heart was stirred to see SBS grads do an outreach and take at least just a few months from their lives to pass on some of the blessing they had received through SBS.

During her second year on staff, Amy went to the Ukraine with Dawn Masucci (whom, together with her husband Mark, were leading the Montana SBS) and another SBS staff person.  They taught for 2 weeks and saw how hungry the people there were for Bible training.  When the Iron Curtain fell, many churches were started in the area they were teaching in, however after a few years time, the number of churches had fallen from 200 to 20 because church leaders had no training in the Word of God.  This statistic really touched her and she continually thought about what she could do to bring training to areas such as these so that the Churches there could grow and thrive.

The desire to see SBS outreaches was also reinforced by a story Dawn Masucci shared about the time she was preaching in Africa one evening on having a heart after God, using King David as an example.  After the service the local pastor came up to her and said, “Thank you.  Great message! … by the way – who’s David?”

The more Amy realized the intense need around the world for Bible training, the more she had a desire to see SBS graduates go on outreach.  Her thought was that after each school year a team would be put together and go... somewhere...

At the same time Amy was mulling these thoughts over, Mark and Dawn Masucci were also discussing similar ideas – only on a much bigger scale than what Amy had been thinking.  They began formulating the idea of having a permanent outreach ministry set up.  Mark and Dawn approached Amy and asked if she would be willing to pioneer it and head it up.  Since God had already been laying the idea on her heart, Amy prayed about it for a couple of days and then agreed.

In Sept. 1996, the whole pioneering process began, and over the past 12+ years we have sent out numerous teams to many nations teaching pastors and church leaders how to study the Bible.  God has blessed and grown and developed this outreach project that began with one woman, into a program that is working to send out several teams each year with training in 4 locations: Montana, India, Taiwan, and South Africa.  It is our goal to Titus Project established on all continents by 2011.